Muzzleloading Rifles, Shotguns, and Handguns

Muzzleloaders are most commonly rifles. However, there are also smooth-bored muzzleloaders—shotguns. Shotgun muzzleloaders can have either a single barrel or double barrels joined side-by-side. When loading the double-barreled muzzleloader, it’s critical to avoid putting the two loads down the same barrel. Double-barreled guns usually have two locks, one for each barrel. This allows the shooter to fire each barrel separately before the gun is reloaded. Most double-barreled guns were designed with two triggers.

Muzzleloading handguns come as both pistols and revolvers. Pistols are mainly single-shot. The revolvers contain multiple-shot chambers. Chain firing muzzleloading revolvers can be dangerous. When the chamber round is fired, it produces sparks that could accidentally ignite loads in another cylinder(s). Therefore, be sure to protect each load in the cylinder with a coating of grease to prevent sparks from entering the open end of the other cylinders.